The Opposite of an Epiphany
by cowardlycourage
Summary: Being more direct and less vague was easy until Juvia came into the picture. One-shot!


It took Gray a while - the rest of the guild snickered, it had actually taken him six months - to realize what was happening. It happened one day in the winter, a few days short of Christmas when the snow was falling like lead and gathering up in feet.

Gray was walking out of the guild, a surprisingly seasonal job in hand, when it hit him like a ton of bricks. Along with him, the paper his job was on, and his clothes, was a certain water mage. He hadn't even noticed it, it was kinda instinctual now. On his way out, he had raised his arm out to the left and pulled his admirer out of the shadows, taking her with him on their mission. The first few times he had done this, he recalled, they would talk for a bit about what was going on and Juvia would melt into a puddle once she realized that he was 'taking her out [on a job]'. But now, all she did was trail behind him in a [hot] mess.

The point is, Gray and Juvia had sort of become partners. It happened just like that over the past few months.

Gray turned his head to look at Juvia, who thankfully wasn't a puddle of Juvia. Her face was deep red and her hands were on her cheeks, the expression on her face looked as if she were daydreaming.

It wasn't conceited to think the daydream was about him, it really wasn't.

The job they had this time was a complaint in the town of Nieve about this thief called Jacque Foust. Gray had only taken the job because the payment was very generous: 500,000 Jewels [Lyon was in the town next over, too]. Basically, their job was to find and take down this thief who kept stealing mass shipments of Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and the likes.

It was a little conceited to think that this job would be over in no time with the deadly combination of him and Juvia.

...but it really wasn't.

In less than 6 hours, plus the three it took to get to Nieve, they talked with the mayor Grimes Nicholas, Juvia tracked down Foust, Gray confronted Foust, Juvia took down his gang, and Juvia finished Foust. It was all really quick and like any other mission, Juvia delivered the final blow. In the end, Gray and Juvia had turned down the offer of 500,000 Jewels for a more accurate sum of 100,000.

"Happy Holidays!" Grimes Nicholas called out as they left the building and made their way to the train station. They caught the next train back to Magnolia and got back at 10 o'clock at night.

When they reached Magnolia, they stepped into the dim streets and made their way to the main avenue. The night was cold and the snow was falling gently to the ground. It wasn't windy and the snow wasn't dropping like rain, just drifting down slowly. The moon was peeking through the scattered dark gray clouds as well as the stars.

Gray decided that now seemed like a good time to ask the question that had been bugging him the whole [easy] mission.

Now it was undeniable, Juvia and Gray worked good together. Water and Ice, a perfect fit. These past six months had proven it, why not the next six months, and the next after that? He knew that even without asking her, Juvia would follow him without question, but it was time Gray began to stop being so vague and more direct.

Juvia was strong and powerful and she didn't need him, Gray had no idea why she had chosen to fall in love with him, an exhibitionist ice mage with commitment issues. There was nothing... good about him. It seemed as if death and despair followed him everywhere.

Ul, Ultear, Lyon, his own _father, _and it would happen to Juvia, too. The feeling was an aching whisper in the back of his mind he did not want to heed. He did his best to ignore it, but it didn't want to be silenced.

Suddenly, Juvia called for him out of nowhere, "Gray-sama?"

Gray directed his attention to her, thankful for the diversion, he raised his brow in question.

Juvia's cheeks tinted pink and she looked up at Gray almost nervously, "Juvia wants to know if Gray-sama is... okay?"

Gray's eyebrows shot up in shock and he quickly turned away from her. Was he really that obvious? "Nothing is wrong!" he replied indignantly.

Juvia pursued her lips, and sighed, her breath came out in a white puff of air, "Of course, Gray-sama."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Gray repeated, "I'm perfectly fine, Juvia."

The water mage blushed scarlet and covered her face with her hands, "Gray-sama addressed Juvia with her actual name~!" she squealed.

Gray sighed, really this behavior seemed like it would never stop, and he wasn't sure if it ever was. _Oh well, _he thought, _Juvia is Juvia _and he asked her the question, "Juvia..." he began, interrupting her from her own thoughts. _Be direct, _he coached himself, _don't beat around the bush. _He grimaced when he looked up into Juvia's eager eyes. _This is hard..._

He did end up telling her, it just didn't come out in the form of a sentence.

"Let's be partners."

...and Juvia turned into a puddle, which was concerning considering it was about 2 degrees outside.

Gray smirked into his scarf.

* * *

**AN: **

**So basically this story happened because my cousin wanted me to create an example for a prompt! And here it is! The theme was Christmas/Happy Holidays/Winter. Which I didn't really follow I guess OTL **

**Anyway, the best of luck to the competitors of the World of Fairy Tail Challenge(s)! I hope you guys have a wonderful experience and make new friends! **

**R&amp;R Please! **

**-cc**


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